Written Answers Wednesday 25 July 2007

Scottish Executive

Asylum Seekers

Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether asylum seekers in Scotland can apply to the fresh talent initiative.

Linda Fabiani: The Fresh Talent initiative is about attracting to Scotland those individuals who have the legal right to live, work and study here by promoting Scotland as a destination and providing information to those thinking of coming here. Therefore, in its broadest sense people do not "apply" to the Fresh Talent initiative.

  However, individuals from outwith the EEA can apply to the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme, one particular strand of the initiative, and I have addressed this issue in the answer to question S3W-1655, answered on 24 July 2007.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Asylum Seekers

Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the children of asylum seekers who have graduated from a Scottish higher or further education institution with an HND, degree, masters or PhD will be eligible to apply for leave to remain for up to two years without requiring a work permit under the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme.

Linda Fabiani: As you will be aware, immigration policy is currently reserved to the UK government and as such we do not set the criteria.

  However, I have been advised that under the current immigration rules, asylum seekers and their dependents in the UK would not be allowed to make an in-country application for leave under the Fresh Talent Working in Scotland Scheme (FT:WiSS). Only those with valid leave as a student, or a participant in the Science and Engineering Graduates Scheme or the International Graduate Scheme, are allowed to make an application while in the country. In order to apply for FT:WiSS an asylum seeker or a dependent of an asylum seeker must leave the UK and apply for entry clearance in a managed migration route. The Border and Immigration Agency would then make a decision on their application.

Bridges

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the new Forth road crossing will be additional to the current Forth Road Bridge or a replacement.

Stewart Stevenson: The primary purpose of the Forth Replacement Crossing study was to investigate the form, function and location of a replacement for the existing crossing. The study has also reflected on the potential role of two crossings being operated in future.

Crofting

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether crofters will have access to the funding for new entrants to farming and, if so, whether it will be at the same rate as for farmers.

Richard Lochhead: New entrants to crofting already have access to the Highlands and Islands Croft Entrant Scheme, a dedicated scheme to facilitate entry into crofting. However, subject to meeting the eligibility requirements, crofters will have access to the New Entrants measure on the same basis as other farmers.

Culture

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-724 by Linda Fabiani on 20 June 2007, what the considerations are that will determine its decision regarding the future of the Cultural Co-ordinators in Schools programme.

Linda Fabiani: I refer the member to the question S3W-1444 answered on 13 July 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Culture

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-725 by Linda Fabiani on 20 June 2007, how it intends to expand access to and participation in cultural activity.

Linda Fabiani: First, we shall consider the evidence that emerges from ongoing initiatives, such as the Cultural Pathfinder projects taking place across Scotland and targeting ways to overcome barriers to cultural participation in a wide variety of contexts. As stated in our Manifesto, we shall be interested to explore the issues surrounding links between cultural delivery and the work of the Community Planning Partnerships.

Drug Misuse

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many drug-related deaths there have been in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board area and expressed per 100,000 head of population.

Fergus Ewing: The following figures were compiled by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS). The figures are expressed as number of drug-related deaths and the rate per 100,000 head of population.

  Drug-Related Deaths1 in Scotland, Numbers and Rates NHS Board Area, 2001-2005

  Number of Drug Deaths

  

NHS Board Area
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005


Scotland
332 
382 
317 
356 
336 


Ayrshire and Arran
35 
33 
19 
20 
15 


Borders
1 
0 
2 
2 
7 


Dumfries and Galloway
8 
9 
9 
7 
7 


Fife
11 
12 
12 
17 
21 


Forth Valley
9 
24 
12 
16 
14 


Grampian
46 
47 
37 
39 
23 


Greater Glasgow and Clyde2
117 
152 
131 
151 
111 


Highland2
6 
13 
10 
12 
13 


Lanarkshire
24 
37 
25 
33 
40 


Lothian
54 
39 
40 
36 
57 


Orkney
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 


Shetland
1 
1 
0 
0 
1 


Tayside
19 
14 
19 
23 
26 


Western Isles
1 
1 
1 
0 
1 



  Rate Per 100,000 Population

  

NHS Board area
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005


Scotland
6.6 
7.6 
6.3 
7.0 
6.6 


Ayrshire and Arran
9.5 
9.0 
5.2 
5.4 
4.1 


Borders
0.9 
0.0 
1.8 
1.8 
6.4 


Dumfries and Galloway
5.4 
6.1 
6.1 
4.7 
4.7 


Fife
3.1 
3.4 
3.4 
4.8 
5.9 


Forth Valley
3.2 
8.6 
4.3 
5.7 
4.9 


Grampian
8.7 
9.0 
7.1 
7.4 
4.4 


Greater Glasgow and Clyde2
9.8 
12.7 
11.0 
12.7 
9.3 


Highland2
2.0 
4.3 
3.3 
4.0 
4.3 


Lanarkshire
4.3 
6.7 
4.5 
5.9 
7.2 


Lothian
6.9 
5.0 
5.1 
4.6 
7.2 


Orkney
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 


Shetland
4.6 
4.6 
0.0 
0.0 
4.5 


Tayside
4.9 
3.6 
4.9 
5.9 
6.7 


Western Isles
3.8 
3.8 
3.8 
0.0 
3.8 



  Notes:

  1 All deaths coded to ICD10 codes: F11-F16, F19: Deaths coded to ICD10 codes X40-X44, X60-X64, X85, Y10-Y14, where a drug listed under the Misuse of Drugs Act (1971) was known to be present in the body at the time of death.

  2 New NHS Board areas including parts of former Argyll and Clyde.

Drug and Alcohol Misuse

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting times are for residential (a) drug and (b) alcohol detoxification treatment in each NHS board.

Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the question S3W-1465 answered on 19 July 2007. Please note that parliamentary question S3W-1465 asked about ‘residential rehabilitation services’ rather than "residential detoxification treatment". Data on both these options are collated in the Waiting Times Information Framework.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Housing

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether spent convictions for offences involving fraud, violence or drugs are being taken into account in determining who are fit and proper persons under the national registration scheme for private landlords.

Stewart Maxwell: I refer the member to the question S3W-1769 answered on 19 July 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Housing

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how local authorities will gather information regarding practised unlawful discrimination in any business activity for the purpose of determining who is a fit and proper person to let property under the national registration scheme for private landlords.

Stewart Maxwell: Applicants for registration are required to list any court or tribunal judgements against them under relevant discrimination legislation. Local authorities may also make use of information which has been brought to their attention in relation to other council services, subject to the provisions of data protection legislation.

Justice

Aileen Campbell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) number and (b) percentage of individuals found guilty of sexual offences against men have not served custodial sentences for the offences that they committed in each of the last five years.

Kenny MacAskill: The information requested is not available as the statistics collected centrally on convictions do not identify victim characteristics unless this is implied by the specific charge involved.

NHS Finance

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent by each NHS board in each of the last five years on (a) administration and (b) management, expressed (i) as a percentage of its total budget and (ii) per head of population.

Nicola Sturgeon: Administrative and management staff make an invaluable contribution to the operation of the health service, organising services in a way which provides equitable access to the highest possible levels of sustainable quality care and ensuring that the patient’s journey through the system is made as smooth as possible, for example through effective management of patient records and efficient scheduling of appointments.

  Administration Expenditure Analysis

  (a) The amount spent by NHS Boards in the last 5 years, expressed both as (i) a percentage of total budget; and (ii) per head of population is given in the following table.

  

NHS Board
2001-02
2002-03


Admin Costs
% of Budget
£ per head of pop
Admin Costs
% of Budget
£ per head of pop


£000s
%
£
£000s
%
£


Argyll and Clyde
4,228
1.0%
10.0
4,388
1.0%
10.4


Ayrshire and Arran
3,267
0.9%
8.7
2,257
0.6%
6.1


Borders
1,636
1.6%
15.3
1,539
1.4%
14.4


Dumfries and Galloway
1,844
1.2%
12.6
1,277
0.8%
8.6


Fife
3,327
1.1%
9.5
2,583
0.8%
7.4


Forth Valley
2,605
1.0%
9.4
1,888
0.7%
6.8


Grampian
4,355
0.9%
8.3
3,456
0.7%
6.6


Greater Glasgow
8,043
0.8%
8.9
9,449
0.9%
10.9


Highland
2,875
1.4%
13.8
2,824
1.3%
13.5


Lanarkshire
3,919
0.8%
7.0
2,852
0.5%
5.2


Lothian
6,747
0.9%
8.6
4,486
0.6%
5.8


Orkney
765
3.5%
39.3
589
2.5%
30.6


Shetland
619
2.3%
27.6
611
2.0%
27.8


Tayside
4,683
1.1%
12.1
2,721
0.6%
7.0


Western Isles
1,562
3.8%
57.5
1,446
3.2%
54.7


Total
50,475
 
 
42,366
 
 



  

NHS Board
2003-04
2004-05


Admin Costs
% of Budget
£ per head of pop
Admin Costs
% of Budget
£ per head of pop


£000s
%
£
£000s
%
£


Argyll and Clyde
4,913
1.0%
11.8
5,588
1.1%
13.4


Ayrshire and Arran
2,747
0.7%
7.5
2,938
0.6%
8.0


Borders
1,427
1.1%
13.2
1,592
1.1%
14.6


Dumfries and Galloway
1,777
1.0%
12.1
1,898
0.9%
12.8


Fife
3,738
1.0%
10.6
4,306
1.0%
12.1


Forth Valley
2,165
0.7%
7.7
2,619
0.8%
9.3


Grampian
4,140
0.8%
7.9
3,578
0.6%
6.8


Greater Glasgow
12,410
1.1%
14.3
11,721
0.9%
13.5


Highland
3,065
1.3%
14.7
4,858
1.6%
23.0


Lanarkshire
4,028
0.7%
7.3
4,380
0.7%
7.9


Lothian
5,010
0.5%
6.4
4,168
0.4%
5.3


Orkney
626
2.4%
32.4
640
2.1%
32.8


Shetland
641
2.0%
29.3
736
2.0%
33.5


Tayside
3,909
0.8%
10.1
5,162
0.9%
13.3


Western Isles
1,522
3.2%
58.3
2,112
3.9%
80.4


Total
52,118
 
 
56,296
 
 



  

NHS Board
2005-06


Admin Costs
% of Budget
£ per head of pop


£000s
%
£


Argyll and Clyde
5,255
0.9%
12.7


Ayrshire and Arran
3,565
0.6%
9.7


Borders
1,697
1.1%
15.5


Dumfries and Galloway
2,063
0.9%
13.9


Fife
3,813
0.8%
10.7


Forth Valley
2,638
0.7%
9.3


Grampian
3,850
0.6%
7.3


Greater Glasgow
11,137
0.8%
12.8


Highland
4,529
1.4%
21.2


Lanarkshire
11,564
1.6%
20.8


Lothian
7,920
0.8%
10.0


Orkney
777
2.2%
39.7


Shetland
804
2.1%
36.5


Tayside
5,591
1.0%
14.3


Western Isles
2,257
7.4%
85.6


Total
67,460
 
 



  Administration

  The boards’ spending on administration costs are taken from note 6 of the published Annual Accounts for each respective financial year.

  The definition of administration expenditure has changed over the period due to changes in accounting guidance and also in the configuration of the health service, particularly the dissolution of NHS trusts. Consequently the figures shown may not be entirely comparable over these years.

  Expenditure will include the costs associated with the board’s responsibilities for the planning and commissioning of health care for its resident population (such as statutory reporting, strategic planning, commissioning of health care and financial projections), but not those costs associated with the provision of health care and other non clinical services provided by the board.

  Management Expenditure Analysis

  (b) The amount spent by each NHS board in the last five years on management, expressed both as (i) a percentage of total budget; and (ii) per head of population is given in the following table.

  

NHS Board
2001-02
2002-03


Management Costs
% of Budget
£ per head of pop
Management Costs
% of Budget
£ per head of pop


£000s
%
£
£000s
%
£


Argyll and Clyde
23,896
5.8%
56.4
25,680
5.9%
61.0


Ayrshire and Arran
20,259
5.7%
54.3
22,454
5.9%
61.0


Borders
7,241
7.1%
67.7
7,882
7.2%
73.7


Dumfries and Galloway
8,939
6.0%
61.3
9,212
5.8%
62.3


Fife
19,397
6.4%
55.4
19,142
5.9%
54.7


Forth Valley
12,637
5.0%
45.5
15,764
5.9%
56.5


Grampian
31,862
6.9%
60.9
34,923
7.0%
66.4


Greater Glasgow
74,003
7.8%
81.8
81,850
7.9%
94.3


Highland
12,041
5.9%
57.7
12,663
5.7%
60.6


Lanarkshire
35,659
7.0%
63.5
36,903
6.8%
66.7


Lothian
47,758
6.7%
60.9
57,599
7.7%
73.9


Orkney
1,076
4.9%
55.2
1,260
5.3%
65.6


Shetland
1,152
4.3%
51.3
1,280
4.2%
58.3


Tayside
30,434
7.2%
78.9
33,260
7.5%
85.6


Western Isles
1,992
4.9%
73.3
2,037
4.6%
77.0


Total
328,346
 
 
361,909
 
 



  

NHS Board
2003-04
2004-05


ManagementCosts
% of Budget
£ per head of pop
ManagementCosts
% of Budget
£ per head of pop


 
£000s
%
£
£000s
%
£


Argyll and Clyde
25,548
5.4%
61.3
35,411
6.7%
85.2


Ayrshire and Arran
24,387
5.9%
66.4
25,601
5.0%
69.6


Borders
7,790
6.3%
71.9
10,872
7.4%
99.5


Dumfries and Galloway
7,438
4.1%
50.5
9,222
4.3%
62.3


Fife
22,823
6.3%
64.8
20,014
4.7%
56.5


Forth Valley
17,285
6.0%
61.8
18,261
5.4%
64.8


Grampian
35,849
6.8%
68.5
31,650
5.2%
60.4


Greater Glasgow
92,369
8.4%
106.6
81,322
6.4%
93.8


Highland
13,775
5.6%
65.9
16,513
5.5%
78.1


Lanarkshire
40,907
7.2%
73.9
42,742
6.5%
76.9


Lothian
58,732
6.4%
75.3
63,475
6.6%
80.6


Orkney
1,245
4.8%
64.5
1,269
4.1%
65.1


Shetland
1,556
4.9%
71.1
2,277
6.3%
103.8


Tayside
34,813
7.4%
90.1
38,966
7.1%
100.5


Western Isles
2,355
5.0%
90.2
1,881
3.5%
71.6


Total
386,871
 
 
399,478
 
 



  

NHS Board
2005-06


ManagementCosts
% of Budget
£ per head of pop


£000s
%
£


Argyll and Clyde
37,743
6.1%
91.2


Ayrshire and Arran
28,566
5.2%
77.8


Borders
7,618
4.8%
69.4


Dumfries and Galloway
9,975
4.3%
67.2


Fife
20,989
4.5%
58.8


Forth Valley
19,868
5.3%
69.9


Grampian
34,010
5.2%
64.7


Greater Glasgow
85,757
6.3%
98.8


Highland
18,432
5.6%
86.3


Lanarkshire
42,035
5.8%
75.5


Lothian
57,194
5.7%
72.2


Orkney
1,427
4.1%
72.8


Shetland
2,390
6.3%
108.6


Tayside
38,413
6.7%
98.6


Western Isles
1,849
3.2%
70.1


Total
406,265
 
 



  Management

  The boards’ spending on management costs are taken from the Scottish Financial Return (SFR) 5.2, which is completed by each hospital and submitted to the NHS National Services Scotland Information and Statistics Division for publication in the Costs Book.

  This expenditure reports the hospital management and administrative costs which includes the following support services:

  Medical: Hospital Medical/Paramedical Administrative Support;

  Nursing: Senior Nursing and Hospital Administrative Support;

  Medical Records;

  General: Hospital administration, including senior management; and

  Agency: Administrative agency staff and agency services

  Budgets

  The total budget for each Board is taken as their Revenue Resource Limit (RRL) which is reported in their Annual Accounts.

  Population

  The figures for the population of each board area are published by the General Register Office for Scotland.

NHS Finance

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much, and by what percentage, each NHS board budget increased in each year from 1999-2000 to 2004-05 (a) in total and (b) per capita and what each board’s average annual increase was over that timescale.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is given in NHS Boards’ Budget Increases 1999-00 to 2004-05 tables available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 43249).

NHS Staff

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to improve the terms and conditions of service of staff and associate specialist grade doctors.

Nicola Sturgeon: For the last two years, the Scottish Executive have been involved in discussions with the other UK Health Departments on a new contract for staff and associate specialist grade doctors. These discussions have now concluded and the new contract is currently under consideration by the Public Sector Pay Committee. Once this process has concluded, we will consider how we might wish to move forward.

NHS Waiting Lists

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are on NHS waiting lists to see physiotherapists.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is not available centrally.

  The first national collection of information on waiting times for services provided by Allied Health Professionals, including physiotherapy, was undertaken on 14 September 2005. The results from this census were published by ISD Scotland on 6 July 2006, in the AHP Census – Waiting for AHP Services Report and is available from: http://www.isdscotland.org/.

Post Offices

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will protect post offices in rural areas from closure and what new services it will offer through post offices to make them viable.

John Swinney: The Scottish Government will do all it can within our devolved powers to support a sustainable rural post office network. I have written to Post Office Ltd urging them to be transparent in their forthcoming consultation and to consider opportunities for trial service delivery to enhance the future of rural post offices.

  I have also written to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities encouraging their pro-active co-operation in local consultation and consideration of future service delivery in conjunction with local post offices.

  The text of both letters is available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2007/07/18115922.

Poverty

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of children have been defined as living in relative poverty in each year since 1960.

Stewart Maxwell: The percentage of children living in relative poverty in Scotland each year since 1994-95 is published in Scottish Households Below Average Income 2005-06 – Revised a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 43209).

  Information on the percentage of children living in relative poverty in Scotland prior to 1994-95 is not held centrally. However, the percentage of children living in relative poverty in the UK in 1979, 1981, 1987, 1998-99, 1990-91 – 1995-97 is published in Households Below Average Income: An Analysis of the Income Distribution – 2005-06 (Revised) a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib .number 42543).

Poverty

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of pensioners have been defined as living in relative poverty in each year since 1960.

Stewart Maxwell: The percentage of pensioners living in relative poverty in Scotland each year since 1994-95 is published in Scottish Households Below Average Income 2005-06 – Revised a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 43209).

  Information on the percentage of pensioners living in relative poverty in Scotland prior to 1994-95 is not held centrally. However, the percentage of pensioners living in relative poverty in the UK in 1979, 1981, 1987, 1998-99, 1990-91 – 1995-97 is published in Households Below Average Income: An Analysis of the Income Distribution – 2005-06 (Revised) a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 42543).

Student Finance

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what it anticipates the cost will be of ending graduate endowment payments from non-Scottish EU citizens currently studying at Scottish institutions and eligible to pay.

Fiona Hyslop: There will be no additional cost, other than the loss of income of £1.5 million annually, to the Scottish Executive of ending graduate endowment payments solely from non-Scottish EU citizens currently studying at Scottish institutions and eligible to pay.